This invention relates to a package and point-of-purchase display unit combined with a product to be displayed. The invention may be employed in conjunction with a variety of different products, for example, in conjunction with a picture frame.
It has always been highly desirable to provide attractive means for packaging products in order to enhance customer appeal. In addition, it is most desirable to provide packaging which will serve to protect products which may include fragile parts or which could be damaged or marred in appearance if not adequately protected against rough or improper handling or against being dropped or having objects dropped on them.
Finally, it is most important to provide packaging which results in a minimum of inconvenience for a retailer. Thus, an ideal package is one where the purchaser simply needs to present the package and the associated product at a check-out station without requiring any significant additional packaging steps by a cashier or sales person.
Products such as picture frames present certain difficulties from a packaging standpoint. Thus, such products should be displayed in a fashion so that the consumer can readily see the product in an attractive setting and so that the consumer will be more likely to purchase the product. Ideally, picture frames are displayed without any conventional packaging associated therewith since, for example, locating of picture frames in a conventional box could hide appealing features or, at a minimum, require the consumer to open the box in order to view the product.
In the case of a picture frame with a glass panel, or in the case of any other fragile product, it is preferable to place the product in a package which will provide some protection. As indicated, however, this procedure can greatly detract from the point-of-purchase appeal of the product.
Where a product such as a picture frame is displayed without conventional packaging, it is necessary for a sales person or the like to wrap or otherwise protect the product after purchase. This is a time-consuming and inefficient operation, particularly where the product is at all fragile since care must be taken to avoid damage to the product during handling.